AfriGeneas Writers Forum

Juxtaposition: Bunche & Powell

Hello Everyone!

I've just finished paging through "Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey" by Brian Urguhart. Ralph Bunche, grandson of an American slave, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1950 for mediating a peace between the Arab States and Israel. Prior to his U N assignments, he worked during WW II for the OSS. Almost sixty years later, another African-American is in the forefront of US diplomacy in the Middle East crisis. His name is Colin Powell.

My thoughts are not about collusion, but ones of irony and juxtaposition... of two African-American men on a mission to settle a world crisis that has affected all of us. In this forum we've often mused about the opinions and thinking of our families during slavery, wars and segregation.

Not only are their color and circumstances similar, but the reactions from both black and white critics were sometimes negative. Thousands of young men and women, maybe some of our relatives are now serving in various parts of the Middle East. What will we tell them about two men of color separated by 60 years diplomacy? Will we mention them in our family histories?

Please share your thoughts about Colin Powell and Ralph Bunche. Do we have the makings of another Nobel Prize recipient? I'd be very interested in your thoughts.

I've listed a link from the Nobel Peace Museum below. Please read Bunche's Nobel lecture in the left box. So much of it still rings true.